The FTSE 100 index rose on Friday, recovering from a sharp sell off over the past two sessions, as crude oil prices fell and Asian markets gained.

Banks HSBC , Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered were all up between 0.5 to 1.7 percent in a broad market recovery. Vodafone gained 1.1 percent in line with a rise in European telecom shares.

By 8:45 a.m., the FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent or 19.3 points at 5,877.4, paring a 124 points loss struck in the previous two sessions when global equities were hit by inflation and interest rates worries.

Having come off sharply from 6,000 levels, this is just a small rebound, said a trader. We are recovering from the setback, but there's nothing really to excite the markets, he said. European markets were also higher.

The FTSE index had hit a three and a half month high of 5,991.2 points on Tuesday.

British Airways rose 0.85 percent, supported by a fall in U.S. crude oil prices which extended a week of losses to hit a new 5-month low under $67 after U.S. distillate supplies rose sharply.

BP said it might be able to restore its Alaskan oilfield sooner than expected and its shares were steady.

Astrazeneca led the losers, falling 2 percent after Citigroup downgraded the pharmaceuticals group to hold from buy. GlaxoSmithkline was little changed.

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher fell 0.7 percent as bid speculation faded after U.S. firm Home Depot said it had ruled out expansion in Europe.

Online gaming stocks were mostly steady after suffering sharp losses in the previous session on uncertainty surrounding the sector. PartyGaming was up 0.5 percent after tumbling 10 percent on Thursday.

HSBC Investment Ftse